The Host Defense Group of the Laboratory of Respiratory Biology, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, headed by Michael B. Fessler, MD now enters its ninth year at the NIEHS since inception. During the past year, Dr. Fessler was granted tenure in the NIH intramural research program. Publications since the last annual report include: 1. a senior author report that the lipid transporter ABCA1 controls the repertoire of proteins in lipid raft microdomains of macrophages (Pubmed ID 25910759) 2. a collaborative report showing that cholesterol dysregulation in the lung promotes tissue fibrosis (Pubmed ID 25409201) 3. a review article on the role of cholesterol in adaptive immunity and disease (Pubmed ID 26149587) 4. an invited editorial on the effect of HDL on asthma (Pubmed ID 25932757) 5. an invited editorial describing a novel role for the tumor suppressor p53 in inflammation (Pubmed ID 25486553) Additional accomplishments since our last report include three invited talks plus a chaired session by Dr. Fessler at the 2015 American Thoracic Society International Conference, and co-chairmanship plus an invited talk at the 2016 Society for Leukocyte Biology Conference (programmed). In addition, this year, Dr. Fessler was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), an honorary society for physician scientists, and also to the Executive Committee of the University of North Carolina Curriculum in Toxicology. This year, two of Dr. Fessler's postdoctoral fellows also received recognition in the form of NIH Fellows Awards for Research Excellence.